


Starve Away The Nightterrors

by TickingClockwork



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Concerned Boyfriend Indrid, Duck Sleep Starves Himself, Insomnia, Lots of cuddles, M/M, Sleep Starvation, Sleep Starved Author, Sleep Starved Duck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2019-11-28 06:17:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18204632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TickingClockwork/pseuds/TickingClockwork
Summary: Ever since Duck gained his powers as the Chosen One, he has suffered through awful nightmares. To avoid them, he began to sleep starve himself. But what happens when his boyfriend, Indrid Cold, finds out about this unsafe and unhealthy habit?





	1. Chapter 1

“WHAT???” Aubrey yelled, loud enough for the whole lodge to hear. Duck winced at the sudden sound and tried to make her quiet down

“Hush Aubrey. It ain’t a big deal” Duck looked around. Dani was listening to Jake talk about something that he was clearly very enthusiastic about, Barclay was distracting Stern from looking around, and Mama was in her office. No one seemed to notice Aubrey’s outburst

“Friend Duck” Ned placed his hand on Duck’s shoulder “You know that can’t be very healthy for you.”

“CANT BE VERY HEALTHY? DID YOU HEAR WHAT HE SAID??? HE HASNT SLEPT IN THE PAST FOUR DAYS!” 

“Would you keep it down!” Duck spat at Aubrey “I didn’t say I hadn’t slept in four days. I still sleep! It’s just only for about three minutes a night.”

Aubrey was clearly not happy with that response.

“But how do you even stay awake? Is that why you always have those 5 hour energy things in your apartment? Who else knows? Does... does Indrid know..”

Duck froze at the mention of his boyfriend. The truth was he hadn’t told Indrid. He didn’t really think that Indrid needed to know.

“Oh my god you haven’t told him!” Aubrey got up and started taking steps towards the lodge phone. Duck stood up 

“Now Aubrey. Listen here alright? Step away from the phone.” Aubrey giggle at Duck’s reaction and ran towards the phone. Duck chased after her.

“I’m too old for this shit” Ned thought as he watched the other two chase eachother around the lodge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!


	2. Hopefully...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Indrid helps Duck get some much needed rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for me to update this! I’ve been real busy lately. Hopefully the next chapter won’t take so long.

After being chased by Duck for a good half hour, Aubrey gave up. Which was good because despite his power, Duck couldn’t run forever.

Duck was still pretty winded from running when he unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside. Indrid was sitting on Duck’s couch, fiddling with a small piece of string. His white bangs were brushed back, and his giant glasses rested on the end of his nose, threatening to fall off.

When he looked up at Duck, Indrid didn’t have the same goofy smile that he usually had. Duck began to worry if Aubrey had really made that phone call.

Indrid pushed his glasses up to the top of his head and walked over to Duck. His movements were slow and purposeful.

“Greetings Duck.” Indrid said in an almost monotone voice. He grabbed Duck’s hands and held them in his own. It was then that Duck noticed that he was shaking.

“Uh... heyya ‘Drid. Are you... are you good? You seem a bit worried.” Indrid sighed and led Duck over the the couch, apologizing to Duck’s cat before lightly pushing her out of the way so they could both sit.

“I am perfectly fine Duck. I just wanted to talk about an interesting phone call I got from Mr. Chicane.” Duck’s eyes went wide with terror. He hadn’t even considered that Ned would snitch on him. Indrid put his hand on Duck’s

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Indrid seemed very upset.

“I didn’t think you needed to know” Duck avoided making eye contact. It was true. Duck didn’t think it was a big deal. But he knew Indrid would react like this.

“You know this isn’t healthy. Aren’t you tired?”

“Yeah. I’m a little tired. It’s worth it though.”

“Duck you-“ Indrid stopped. Looking off into the distance. Duck could tell he was looking at futures.

A small smile appeared on Indrid’s face. It wasn’t his usual smile. It was something more sinister than that.

“Duck. There are no futures where I convince you to stop. So I guess I’ll just give up now” indrid sounded so disappointed, but his face showed otherwise. Duck was afraid that Indrid would walk away but he didn’t.

Instead, Indrid wrapped his arms around Duck’s waist and put his head on Duck’s shoulder. The two of them hardly ever had moments like this, so it was very nice.

It was a nice quiet moment, but moments like this were something that Duck tried to avoid. He loved being this close to Indrid, but he couldn’t risk being too relaxed.

Just as Duck was about to say something. Indrid put his hand into Duck’s hair. The feeling of Indrids cold hand on his scalp felt wonderful, and Duck decided that maybe it was worth the risk to stay for a little longer.

 

Duck closed his eyes for a moment. It was something he wanted to avoid, but it was almost painful to keep his eyes open. As soon as his eyes closed he noticed how heavy his eyelids felt. Noticing this, he slowly forced his eyes back open. He almost jumped back when he noticed that the room they were in looked a lot darker. The lights were off and the room was only illuminated by a powerful space heater that Duck kept in his apartment for Indrid.

He also noticed that Indrid’s position had changed. Duck was leaning against Indrid, feeling the cool skin on his warm body. Indrid continued to run his hands through Duck’s hair but it was a lot slower and softer than before. Indrid was slowly drifting off to sleep, but he soon noticed that Duck’s breathing pattern had slightly changed and he looked up at Duck.

“what... ‘drid .. did I fall asleep?” Duck was worried, but he was too tired to express that emotion clear enough.

Indrid smiled and put his head back onto Duck’s shoulder again

“It’s ok Duck. You have nothing to worry about” Indird placed a light kiss onto Duck’s neck and continued to run his hand through Duck’s hair.

Duck could once again feel his eyelids become heavy. He wanted to stay awake, but it wasn’t even an option at this point.

The feeling of his eyes being closed felt so nice. But that hardly compared to how relaxed Indrid was making him feel.

The sensation of Indrid’s hand in his hair while he placed more small kisses onto the side of his neck made Duck forget about everything else. Right now, Indrid was the only important thing in the world.

The hand that wasn’t in Duck’s hair was wrapped around his waist.

Indrid pulled himself close to Duck and smiled to himself as he felt Duck’s breathing begin to slow down once more.

Indrid’s smile faded slightly when Duck made a small worried noise before drifting off to sleep.

Indrid knew that Duck didn’t really want to do this to himself, he was just scared. But Indrid was going to be there for him. He was going to make sure that if Duck ever had another nightmare or vision, he would hold him and keep him safe.

What Duck was doing to himself was not healthy in the slightest. Indrid knew that he shouldn’t have tricked Duck like this, but it was the only way to help him.

Duck would thank Indrid for this later...

Hopefully...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And uh, just some advice if you know someone who is sleep starving: What Indrid does is not a good idea and should only be used when the person is too far gone to reason with. Just offering to spend the night with someone can be a huge help. Most of the time, you don’t need to trick them into sleeping (and in some cases, it can make the situation worse)


	3. Waking up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duck wakes up

Duck woke up with a start. His breathing was fast and his pulse quickened.

“How could I let myself do that! What if I had a night terror? What if I saw a vision? What if it was a vision of Indrid gettin’ hurt?” Duck thought to himself.

Duck had seen many visions since he was 18 but the worst ones were seeing his friends get hurt. He knew that Indrid saw people get hurt in his visions all the time, the only difference was that Duck’s visions always came true, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

Because of this, he never really saw the point in his visions. The anxiety of knowing that he was possibly going to drown, or the knowledge that he was going to watch Ned get thrown into a tree, even something as small as falling off his skateboard. It drove him insane. 

But he could handle that stuff. What he could never handle was seeing Indrid get hurt. Indrid could always prevent the futures he saw of Duck getting hurt, but if Duck saw something bad happen to Indrid, he would have no choice but to sit back and wait for the love of his life to be attacked

Duck didn’t realize that he was crying until Indrid was brushing away the tears on his face. Duck looked up to see Indrid with his glasses still pushed up to rest on his forehead. He had a sad smile on his face as he held Duck in his arms. 

“It’s alright honey…” Indrid whispered as Duck continued to cry

Duck’s head was resting against Indrid’s chest and his whole body was shaking, a lot.

“It’s okay, my love.” Indrid placed a kiss on the top of Duck's head. “What did you see?” 

“N-n-nothin'...”

“Duck... please tell me what you saw. I want to help you, but I can’t if you don’t tell me what happened.” Indrid lifted up Duck's head and saw that many tears were streaming down his face.

“I didn’t... have a... a night terror... but... but I coulda... I was... I was so scared... so scared I was gonna have a vision... a vision 'bout... about... ” Duck started shaking worse now, a sob escaping his lips. 

“Shhh, it’s okay Duck. You don’t have to say anything else.” Indrid kissed Ducks forehead, his lips lingering as he drew him in close.

“Nothing bad has happened. You are safe now.”

Duck held onto Indrid like his life depended on it. Even when he gripped so tight that it was hard to breathe, Indrid let him. 

“You know I love you so much darling. I’m flattered that you care about me so much, but I hate seeing you suffer like this.” Indrid rubbed Duck’s back “We are going to get through this. I promise. But first I’m going to need you to promise me something” 

Duck looked up at Indrid questioningly

“I need you to promise that you will try and get some rest” Duck thought about this for a moment. Then slowly nodded in agreement.

“And just to make sure that you actually sleep.

I’m going to spend the night here.”


	4. A broken promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duck gets some rest
> 
> It doesn’t go a plan

Duck didn’t have work today. Which was good, because Indrid wasn’t going to let Duck leave anyway.

No work and no monster fighting usually meant boredom, but Indrid was doing a pretty good job at keeping Duck entertained with stories about life as a court seer.

“You has to wear a dress?” Duck laughed

“Not a dress. It was simply a long skirt. And I’ll have you know that I looked absolutely fantastic in it.” Indrid crossed his arms.

“I’m sure you did, darling” Duck put his arm around Indrid’s waist and pulled him closer before placing a small kiss on his forehead.

Even with the nice talk and the much needed affection, Duck still couldn’t shake the fear of knowing what would happen that night.

He would have to face his fears and sleep. He was afraid. So very afraid. He didn’t think he could-

“Duck.” Indrid said with a worried tone.

“You’re shaking. A lot.” Duck looked down at his hand to see that he was in fact shaking.

“W-well you see-“ 

“Stop.” Indrid cut Duck off. “You’re about to stutter your way through a lie and we both know that isn’t going to end well.”

“You don’t know that-“ Duck began

“So you weren’t about to tell the cold-blooded man that you are shaking because of the cold?” Duck groaned in frustration at his inability to lie. Indrid chuckled slightly before placing his hand of Duck’s cheek and moving his head so they were looking at each other.

“Tell me what’s wrong Duck.”

“I just…” Duck could feel tears forming at the edge of his eyes “I know I promised that I’d sleep t’night and I’m not usually one to break a promise. But I’m real scared ‘Drid” tears began to slide down his face.

Indrid let go of Duck’s face and kissed him lightly

“It’s going to be alright Duck. I’m going to keep you safe.

I promise.”

 

___________________

 

Duck was able to keep his fears bottled up for the rest of the day, but it was hard to contain his concerns when the sun began to set.

Indrid noticed the Duck was worried, but he didn’t say anything. Not yet. He simply stood up and held out his hand to Duck.

They walked to Duck’s bedroom together. It was just a couple steps, but to Duck, it felt like the longest distance he had ever travelled.

They both entered the bedroom, never letting go of each other’s hands. Indrid kissed Duck’s cheek before lying down on the bed, and Duck hesitantly followed.

Indrid wrapped his arms around the larger man, managing to spoon him despite being a lot smaller. Duck sighed with comfort and relief. The feeling of his lover’s arms around him made him feel safe.

Yesterday’s full nights sleep hardly made up for the weeks of sleeping a few minutes at time, so it didn’t take long before Duck fell asleep.

Duck looked so peaceful and content, Indrid couldn’t help but smile.

This nice moment was soon disrupted however. Duck’s eyes were shut tight. He turned around in his sleep and clung to Indrid as if his life depended on it. He was shaking really badly.

 

Duck was having a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something tells me that I’m not going to be very good at this whole “constant updates” thing. Sorry if the updates go too slow, I’ll try to do better in the future.


	5. No way in hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another lie. This time, it’s intentional.

Indrid placed his hand on Duck’s shoulder.

“Duck?”

Duck didn’t wake up. His head rolled over in Indrid’s direction. He looked like he was in pain. Indrid shook him, in an attempt to wake him up.

It worked.

Indrid jumped back as Duck shot up. His eyes were wide, but his face was otherwise expressionless.

Indrid wrapped his arms around Duck, feeling the very quick rise and fall of his chest. 

“Its alright darling. You’re gonna be ok.” Indrid stroked his hair. Duck looked down and began to speak

“This was a bad idea...”

“Duck-“

“No Indrid! Nothing you can say is gonna make this better! The things I saw! I-“ Duck choked on his breath. Tears streamed down his face.

“What did you see?” Indrid rubbed Duck’s back and looked up at him with a worried expression

“You were... you were dyin’.... Indrid I... you know I can’t stop visions... you’re gonna... oh god...” more tears streamed down his face and his breath quickened.

Indrid smiled at Duck and began to laugh

“Duck. I’m not leaving you any time soon. You only get visions at the beginning of the month remember?” After a minute, Duck’s eyes went wide. He grabbed Indrid and pulled him close

“Oh thank god. I was so scared. Oh. Oh god. It. It was just a dream.”

“It’s alright love. It’s alright.” Indrid wrapped his arms around Duck, before looking at the table next to the bed.

“You should go back to sleep dear.” Indrid said, glancing at the clock. Duck pulled away from Indrid and looked down at the bed.

“Uh. Uh yeah I’ll uh... I do that. I just gotta... check on the cat. Make sure... make sure she’s ok.” That sounded odd, but Indrid supposed that Duck was just tired.

 

Indrid got into bed, fatigue already taking over him. The last thing he saw before falling asleep was Duck opening the bedroom door and smiling at Indrid.

Duck left the room and closed the door behind him. Then walked over to the coffee machine in his kitchen.

“There’s no way in hell im going back into that room”


	6. One more night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Indrid wakes up
> 
> Duck wakes up in a different way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am. So sorry. For the lack of updates. I now have several chapters already written out so there will be a lot more constand updates.
> 
> Also there is probably a lot of typos in this chapter. Sorry for that. I’m very tired (jee I wonder why) but hopefully it’s still somewhat readable.

Duck looked out the window as the sun began to creep over the hills. Indrid would be awake soon, and Duck would need to find some sort of excuse to get him to leave. Being with him was very nice, but he couldnt risk another night like that.

Indrid’s eyes fluttered open. He turned to his side, expecting to see Duck, but no one was there. Indrid quickly got out of bed and ran to the door.

Duck heard the bedroom door open and quickly turned and smiled at Indrid. He walked over to him and took Indrid’s hand in his own.

“Good morning darlin’” Duck spoke softly. Indrid didnt respond. He just looked up at Duck.

“Did you come back to bed last night?” Indrid tilted his head. Clearly worried

“Well.. uh.. um... yeah.. uh... yup. Totally. Totally came to bed last night. Yup.” Duck mentally face palmed. There was no way in hell Indrid was gonna-

“Alright.” 

Well then. That was unexpected. Indrid held Duck’s hand and led him over to the couch, motioning for him to sit.

“Duck do you... understand what happens when you go a long time without sleep?”

“Well I reckon I know quite a bit. But I understand you probably dont know much ‘bout it. I can promise you that its perfectly fi-“ Indrid brought his glasses to the top of his head again. This time leaning real close to Duck.

For the first time, Duck wasnt focusing on Indrid’s eyes, he was focusing on what was under them.

Duck had seen people with some pretty dark circles. And he thought he had the worst of them. But he was wrong. Oh so wrong. Indrid looked even worse than he did. A lot worse.

“I-Indrid.. w-what?”

“Visions... make it a bit hard to sleep. As i am not human, i require less sleep than you, but that does not mean i dont suffer the.. effects.. of fatigue”

“Oh Indrid I... I had no idea...”

“And I had no idea that you purposely starved yourself of sleep. Now we’re even.”

“Yeah I suppose we are- wait. If you have such a hard time sleepin’ then how come you slept so well last night?”

“Oh um...” Indrid looked down “Its just.. when im around you I find it easier to focus on the present.”

Duck felt his face grow hot and he smiled

“Then I guess... maybe... we could help eachother sleep... for one more night... but only one! I aint riskin’ too much here.”

Indrid laughed and wrapped his arms around Duck’s neck

“One more night...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!!

**Author's Note:**

> This was really just a set up chapter. All chapters after this will be longer, fluffier, a little angstier, and have more Indrid. Next chapter will be out very soon.


End file.
